SFWA Bulletin [v10 #4, No. 54, July 1975] ed. Stephen Goldin (Science Fiction Writers Association, 22pp, octavo s/s, cover: photo of RAH’s Grand Master Nebula by Jay Kay Klein) []
Details supplied by Bud Webster.
- · [illustrations] · William Rotsler · il
- · [illustrations] · Jack Gaughan · il
- · [illustrations] · Donald Simpson · il
- · [illustrations] · Barry Schneider · il
- ifc. · Now Hear This! · [uncredited] · cl; unsigned, but presumably by editor Goldin. News items, including a note from Harlan Ellison concerning the reversion of rights from IF via the publisher. “…I was able (through the good offices of the amazing Larry Shaw) to track down James L. Quinn, whose Quinn Publishing Company of Kingston, New York created and published IF: WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION from March, 1952 until it was sold in February, 1959. Mr. Quinn has advised me he will be happy to revert all titles, rights and licenses in stories he published, if the writers drop him a letter requesting same.…” Also, the closing of VERTEX, blamed by editor Don Pfeil on “insufficient distribution.”
- 1 · Colophon and credits · [uncredited] · ms
- 2 · Table of Contents · [uncredited] · ms; photos of Damon Knight, Robert Heinlein, Ursula le Guin, Terry Carr(?) and a dais shot of Ellison speaking with three others seated around him. Photo credits are a little murky, but apparently some were by Klein and others by Dena Brown.
- 3 · Notes from a Phantom Koala · Stephen Goldin · ed; “One of the main reasons for all these changes was the fact that you have had a change in editors. George Zebrowski, Pam Sargent and Jack Dann labored for about five years to put out the BULLETIN. During their tenure there were many complaints about the way things were run - but then, there always are.” This editorial continues on page 17.
- 4-7 · Nebula Awards Banquet 1975 · Jay Kay Klein · ar; Of the editors’ panel he says, “Jim Baen began with a series of admonitions: wait at least six weeks before querying; don’t use yellowing manuscript paper - it makes the story look as though it’s been going the rounds; if you use an odd word or construction, underline the item with a series of dots and mark ’stet’ in the margin.” Sounds reasonable to me. “The final item on the program was something new - the presentation of the Grand Master Award…which proved to be similar to the regular Nebula, but larger, and with an added base containing a large moon, a small Earth, and a rocket ship. To no one’s surprise, Bob Heinlein was the first Grand Master Award winner.…Heinlein spoke briefly and with considerable emotion…saying it was different from the Hugo - ’This is from my colleagues.’”
- 8-9 · West Coast Banquet · Vonda N. McIntyre · ar; Since the primary banquet was in NYC, and the actual Awards sent there, Ms McIntyre made do by, er, blowing up the substitute awards. “Unfortunately, Y[our]H[umble]O[bedient]S[ervent] has never been too good at blowing up balloons, and found it impossible to complete the task while giggling. Anticipation mounted as Barbara Silverberg came to the rescue and blew up the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1974, which went to Ursula K. Le Guin for ’The Day Before the Revolution.’.…Bob [Silverberg] attempted to present the Best Dramatic Presentation Balloon to SLEEPER, but Woody Allen had for some reason not been able to make it to the banquet, so his award was deflated. It was not however, as vulgar reports would have it, allowed to PHPHPHPHPHPHHHTTT around the restaurant.”
- 9 · Deadlines · [uncredited] · ms; unsigned but presumably by the editor. “Due to a personality quirk on the part of the new BULLETIN editor, an attempt will be made to publish the BULLETIN on a regular basis. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause our readers.”
- 10-11 · In the Beginning · Damon Knight · ar; A short history of SFWA on the event of its tenth anniversary, by the man who founded it. This is one of the articles that should be reprinted SOMEwhere. “See, I already knew how to do it, and it was very easy. I didn’t hold a single meeting, I didn’t even form a committee, I just sent out a one-page flyer and said send in your three bucks to join.” He ends by saying, “I like the idea that we are banded together to help each other, no matter how clumsy our efforts may be sometimes. I don’t see any reason why this organization should not celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in 1995, and if I’m still upright the I undertake to make another speech, and at that time I promise to have an even longer beard.”
- 12-15 · From the Presidents · Robert Silverberg, James E. Gunn, Poul Anderson & Jerry Pournelle · ar; comments on their presidential tenures. With the preceding piece by Knight, this would make a very nice article to run in the current BULLETIN. Of his term in office, Silverberg says, “I was tyrannical, dictatorial and peremptory. I had little patience with such bureaucratic procedures as had evolved in the eoSFWAn period - there weren’t many then, but I couldn’t bear to deal with them - and I generally reached decisions alone and executed them alone, which method did succeed in getting things done swiftly, though it sometimes bugged my unconsulted vice-president, Jim Blish.…I was no model of democratic procedure, but I did accomplish the two things I set out to do as president. One was to bring the organization to financial balance.…The other aim was to settle, if at all possible, all grievances against publishers then outstanding.…” He did both, the first with the utterly necessary Science Fiction Hall of Fame books.
- 16 · From the Grievance Committee · Jerry Pournelle · ar; One of the items detailed here is one I recall clearly as it happened (many others here, like Ned Brooks, will remember it as well). “The Grievance Committee has taken official notice of the controversy between Associate Member Sandra Miesel and Mr. Leland Sapiro of RIVERSIDE QUARTERLY. In 1970 Ms. Miesel wrote an article which was published in the fanzine RQ. She was paid a nominal fee for typing and layout, but no editorial fee…Mr. Sapiro obtained copyright of the issue in his own name and made no release of material to the authors. Ms. Miesel subsequently sold a substantially revised version of the article to Roger Elwood for inclusion in the Chilton anthology The Many Worlds of Poul Anderson.…Mr. Sapiro has, through an attorney, made representation that he is entitled to the advances Ms. Miesel received from Chilton, and threatens suit against Chilton, Elwood and Miesel to recover the monies he claims are due him.” I hate to say it, but although I remember the hoo-hah in fandom at the time, I don’t really recall how the case came out. Did Sandra win?
- 18 · Missing Persons · [uncredited] · ms; unsigned but presumably by editor Goldin. A report on a letter from VERTEX: “Unfortunately lots of authors - and maybe even a SFWA member or two! - occasionally lapse and send out a manuscript which fails to list either their names or address or both, or fails to enclose the SASE.…This problem becomes even more crucial now that VERTEX has regrettably had to suspend publication.…” There follows a list of names, story titles, and other clues, with the offer of returning these manuscripts to their authors. I see a bare handful of recognizable names, including mystery writer Robert Crais, genre essayist Rob Latham, and this intriguing bit - “’A Story’ by McDivitt.” Jack McDevitt, maybe?
- 19-20 · Market Report · [uncredited] · cl; including Sam Lundwall’s call for “…good, fast-moving SF, hard SF preferred although I am including an occasional fantasy as well - I am rather fond of satiric SF myself, but above all it should be nice old wave SF without being Space Opera.” Also, announcements of the new Oz prozine edited and published by Paul Collins, VOID, and Peter Weston’s ANDROMEDA.
- 21 · Full-page ad for Harper & Row · [uncredited] · ms
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